Solid fuels, such as coal and coke, have many important uses in industry, including in high-temperature combustion operations. However, it is necessary to grind or otherwise condition solid fuels into smaller, finer particles to render them suitable for usage in these and other environments. Among the conditioning equipment that is currently available for doing so is the Atrita® Pulverizer, which is shown as reference numeral 10 in FIG. 1.
When used, the Atrita® Pulverizer 10 is effective to transform raw coal (or other solid fuel) that is otherwise unsuitable for use as a fuel into pulverized coal, which, in turn, can be readily consumed in high-temperature combustion processes. The Atrita® Pulverizer 10 operates through successive crushing, impact and attrition processes, which occur, respectively, in a crusher section 20, a pulverizing section 30, and a fan section 40 of the Pulverizer.
Unfortunately, unforeseen and/or unavoidable conditions may arise that can adversely affect optimum functioning of solid fuel conditioning equipment, such as the Atrita® Pulverizer 10. For example the presence of excess moisture (due to, e.g., humidity in the atmosphere and/or contaminants within the solid fuel being treated) can disrupt, if not entirely cease the flow of solid fuel through the conditioning equipment, thus causing formation of a partial or complete blockage of solid fuel. In the case of the Atrita® Pulverizer 10, were a solid fuel blockage to occur due to excessive moisture, the location of the blockage would most likely be within the grid portion 50 of the crusher section 20, where there are small openings through which the solid fuel is forced prior to entering the grinding section 30.
Even a partial blockage in solid fuel conditioning equipment is undesirable. In the case of the Atrita® Pulverizer, a partial blockage could necessitate added power consumption due to the fan section 40 of the Pulverizer being required to work harder to move along the solid fuel. Moreover, if there is a complete blockage of solid fuel, then the Atrita® Pulverizer (or other conditioning equipment) would need to be shut down, unblocked, and then cleaned prior to resuming operation. This would cause added expense due to increased manpower and lost production. Moreover, if a complete blockage was unnoticed and the Atrita® Pulverizer 10 (or other conditioning equipment) continued to operate, then some of its parts (e.g., couplings) could be ruined. This would cause still further added expense in repairing or replacing the affected equipment.
Therefore, a need exists for a system that can be easily implemented into existing solid fuel conditioning equipment, and that allows solid fuel blockages to be prevented, or at least to be noticed and properly acted upon prior to the efficacy of the equipment being compromised.